Pakistan Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud is alive: spy agency

While presumed killed in a drone strike in January, Pakistan Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud is in fact alive, according to a senior intelligence official in Islamabad. It may set back the US drone program.

By
David Montero, Correspondent /
April 29, 2010

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Reuters TV/Reuters/File

(Read caption)
Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud (c.) sits with other millitants in South Waziristan in this October 4, 2009 file video grab. Mehsud is in fact alive, according to a senior intelligence official in Islamabad.

Following that incident, the CIA sharply ramped up efforts to eliminate Hakimullah, unleashing a barrage of drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal belt, according to the Associated Press. At first it appeared they’d hit their quarry; in January, Pakistan’s interior minister declared Hakimullah dead.

Hakimullah’s death was hailed by international media as a major victory. But neither the CIA nor Pakistan’s intelligence agency confirmed the death, the Guardian points out. And the Taliban themselves always insisted Hakimullah was alive, adds Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper

Now, Pakistani officials apparently agree.

"He is alive," a senior intelligence official in Pakistan, speaking anonymously, told the Guardian. "He had some wounds but he is basically OK."

The Taliban themselves have not released a statement or brought Hakimullah forward to prove his alive.

What his possible survival means in practical terms is not clear. Intelligence officials told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that Hakimullah has lost clout within the Pakistani Taliban since January. It is not inconceivable, however, that he could regain the position he lost through a power struggle.

His survival, if true, is also likely to fuel an already simmering debate. Many already question the program, which is conducted in complete secrecy without Congressional oversight.

A recent House Committee on drone strikes sharply questioned the legality of the CIA’s program. Scholars testifying at the hearing called the strikes “a clear violation of international law," reports the AP.

CIA spokesman George Little responded that the program is conducted in strict accordance with the law.